Time recorder



Oct. 13, 1942. a G. STRECKFUSSV 2,299,044

TIME RECORDER Filed Sept. 19, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I'zs.4.

IN VE NTOR ELME/t 61 4STI(CKF"U68.

BY MMQ+M ATTORNEYIS.

Oct. 9 2- E. G. STRECKFUSS 2,299,044

TIIE RECORDER Filed Sept. 19, 1939 3 Sheets-sheet 3 INVENTOR. ELME GSr/Ec/muss.

ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 13, 1942 UNITED" STATE PATENT .IOFFICE 4 TIMI RECORDED,

Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio 0 Recorder Company ApplicationSeptember 15,- ms, Serial No. 295,94

1 Claims. (01. 234-43) October 30.- 1928, it being the main object of myinvention to apply power by means of a clock controlled power operateddevice to the shifter instead of relying on a clock movement to supplythe power. My novel structure includes means which is adjustable as in aprogram clock for timing the movements of the tray so that as adesirable end, I may provide for in and out shifting of the card trayfor morning, afternoon and mechanism is entirely automatic, there beingno hand lever or other device to which the registree must apply manualeffort to affect an imprint or registration of the time upon a card. 7

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a synchronous electric motor ll, operatingthrough a suitable train of reduction gears indicated at I I, drives theshaft I2. Shaft I2 has at its outer end a gear l2a meshing with gear IIto drive the vertical shaft overtime, as distinguished from employingthe shifting of the card tray for days of the week and using a cardabutment for selecting in'and out registrations for the said threeworking periods.

Among otherobjects of my invention is the combination with an automaticcard tray shift locked against tampering movements of means forrendering the locking function ineffective to the end that a personauthorized to do so, may position the card tray irrespective of theautomatic device.

The above and other advantages to be noted I accomplish by that novelstructure and arrangement of which an example is illustrated in thedrawings and will be described.

Refer to the claims that follow this description for a statement of thenovelty inherent in said example.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation with the casing removed, and parts brokenaway.

Fig. 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1

Figs. 3 and '4 are respectively a front elevation and a plan view of atime recorder in which my improvements are incorporated.

Fig. 5 is a section taken along line 55 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 fan sectiontaken along line l6 of Fig. 5. r s

Fig. 7 is a section taken along line 1-1 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7a shows an alternate position of the parts seen in Fig; 7.

Fig. 8 is a detailed front elevation of an improved lever employed forshifting the card tray.

Fig. 9 shows an alternate position of the parts seen in Fig. 8. I

Throughout the drawings I have omitted certain mechanisms whosefunctions are not essential to an understanding of my present invention.

It. At its upper end the shaft H has a gear a which meshes with gearsIlb and llc to drive the time indicator lid on the clock face. Toclarify the drawings the lower portion of shaft H has been broken awaybut it will be understood that the said shaft may extend downwardly tocontrol the type wheels I! and other mechanism not a part of my presentinvention.

The shaft M has a gear I. by which the large disc I! is driven in timedrelation with the indicator Ila through'gear "a, shaft I621, pinion lieand gear lid. The gear lid and disc l'l are fixed to a shaft lla whichis suitably Journaled in the frame.

The disc .I I is provided with slots or openings l8 adapted to receive aseries of lugs I! which may be retained therein at desiredcircumferential intervals by screws I8a having nuts lib.

With the arrangement shown the disc I1 is timed to make one revolutionper day. An arm 20 pivoted to the frame at 20a has a downward projectingfinger 20b and as the disc I1 revolves the lugs i9, striking projection20b, lift the arm 20 slowLv upward. As the lugs pass the projection thearm 20 will drop to its normal position and in so doing will each timeset into operation my improved mechanism for changing the lateralposition of the card tray as will be presently described.

The card tray, indicated at 2|, is slidably mounted on the rods orshafts 22 and 23 and has depending side members or ways 2la which arechannel shaped in cross section and serve to guide the card to aposition between the type wheels l5 and the printing hammer 24. Anabutment plate 25 slidable in the ways 21a, limits the depth to whichthe card may be inserted in the tray and thus determines the verticalplacement of the imprint on the card. The position of the abutment plateis controlled by a cam 26 which has a follower 280 located on an arm 21,said arm being pivoted to the frame at 210 and having at its other end arail or bar 21b upon which the stud 25a (extending from the abutmentplate 25) rests.

In the machine ill trated the operation of all When a card is. insertedin the tray the abutment plate 25 and arm 21 will be moved slightlydownward, due to a lost motion arrangement in corporated in arm 21 butnot shown in the drawlngs. The lost motion is utilized to close a switch28 completing a circuit to a solenoid 29. Solenoid 23 attracts plunger23a against tension of spring 28b to rock the hammer shaft 23, throughlink 30 and lever arm 2311 thus actuating hammer 24 and forming animprint on the card. This arrangement is described and claimed in mycopending application Serial No. 219,438, filed July 15, 1938, and formsno part of my present invenarranged to rock the arm 42 which arm carriestion, being merely incidental to a description thereof.

Pivotally attached to the arm 20, a rod 3| is arranged to lift a member32 being fixed thereto by bracket 3|a. As seen in Fig. 2, the member 32is slotted at its upper end as at 32c where it is slidably mounted on astud 32b fixed in the frame. As best seen in Fig. 7 the member 32 isalso slotted as at 32c at its lower end where it is guided by a shaft 33having a ratchet wheel 34 mounted thereon. A pawl 35 for advancing thewheel 34 is pivoted at 35a to themember 32. Mounted beneath the wheel 34and arranged to be closed thereby is an electrical switch 36, saidswitch having an insulated contact with the wheel and being supported bya bracket 36a fixed to the bearing standard 33a.

As seen in Fig. 7 the parts .are shown in their normal or inoperativeposition. As here shown the weight of member 32 and the linkageconnected therewith rests upon the wheel 34 by virtue of the block 32d.Backward movement of the wheel is here prevented by a pawl 31 which pawlis mounted by means of bracket 31a to a cam operated lever 38 thepurpose of which will be presently described.

As the member 32 and its associated parts are, lifted upward by actionof one of the lugs I9 striking the projection b of arm 26, the pawl 35will be brought into a position suitable for advancing the wheel 34.When the lug l9 passes projection 20b permitting arm 20 and member 32 todrop, the wheel 34 will be advanced to the position seen in Fig. 7awhere the tooth 340. has closed the switch 36. At this position of theparts the weight carried by member 32 is imposed upon wheel 34 by thepawl 35 and block 32d and as these members tend to rotate the wheel inopposite directions, it will be temporarily held from rotation. Toprevent any tendency of the wheel to spin or travel too far duringrotation, a spring member 34b is arranged to bear lightly against thewheel at all times. The pawls 35 and 31 may be equipped with lightsprings 35s and 31s respectively to urge engagement with the ratchetteeth.

Closing the switch 36 energizes a motor 39, which motor, operatingthrough a train of reduction gears contained in housing 39a, drivesshaft 40 and the cam 4| fixed thereon. The cam -4| depresses lever 38against tension of spring 38a and the motor continues to run until cam4| has made a complete revolution and its high point 4|a has passed thefollower or roller 38b at which time the spring 38a will return lever 38to the position shown. The pawl 31, being carried downward with lever38,wi1l engage beneath the tooth 34c of the wheel and upon the upwardmovement or return of arm 38 will carry the wheel 34 to its normalposition as in Fig. '7 permitting the switch 36 to open and stoppingmotor 33. Y

a pawl 43 adapted to engage and advance a' ratchet wheel 44, said wheelbeing moved one tooth at each operation of the arm. Fixed to rotate withthe ratchet wheel a barrel cam 45 engages a pin or stud 46 to move thelever arm 41 by a mechanism to be described. The cam track is arrangedto move lever 41 to the'right (Fig. 1), against tension of spring 48, asthe cam is advanced. After the lever has reached its extreme right'handposition further rotation of the cam will bring into position across-track in the cam permitting the sprlng 48 to return the lever toits extreme left hand or starting'position.

Pivoted to the upper end of lever 41, a link 49 is attached at its otherend to the card tray 2| so that movement of the lever will result'inpro- 1 portionate movement of the card tray.

Referring now to Fig. 2 the lever 38 is pivoted 7 From the foregoing itwill be apparent that the function of each lug |9 on disc I1, is to setinto operation a train of mechanism to change the position of the cardtra'y.

The barrel cam ,45 and its appurtenances as above briefly described isfully described and claimed in the'Patent No. 1,689,905 issued to JamesW.'Yates, October 30, 1928, and its detailed construction forms no partof my present invention.

It is desirable to provide means whereby the card tray may be shiftedtemporarily to any position desired, regardless of the position of thebarrel cam. The arrangement which I have conceived to accomplish thisobject is one of the features of my invention.

In my improved device the lever 41 is mounted at its lower end on ashaft 50 being free to turn thereon and retained in position by collars5| and 52 as seen in Fig. 2. Fixed in the lever 41 a stud 53 having alarge head retains a second lever 54 which is slotted as at 54a topermit a sliding relation between the two levers. Near the lower end oflever 41 a second stud 55 fixed therein engages the slotted portion 54bof lever 54 and serves to guide same in proper alignment. A tensionspring 56 fixed at one end to lever 41 and at its other end to lever 54urges the levers to the relative position as seen in Figs. 1 and 8. Thestud or roller 46 which engages the barrel cam is fixed to a shortupstanding arm 51 which arm may be fixed to shaft 50 and has a rearwardextending pin or stud 58 which stud is of sumcient-length to be engagedby the straight slotted portion 54b of lever 54. Lever 54 has anenlarged opening 540 communicating with the slotted portion 54b alreadymentioned.

With the position of levers 41 and 54 as seen in Figs. 1 and 8 the cardtray will be locked against any manual effort to shift it from itsnormal position as determined by the barrel cam. This is due to thelocking effect of the pin 58 engaging slot 5417 thereby forming a rigidconnection or relationship between the levers 51 tending forwardly.Cooperating with this stud a lever 60 pivoted at 6| on the frame has aforward bent portion 62. On the casing or cover 63 is a cylinder lock 64having fixed at its inner end an arm 65 having roller 66. As seen theroller 66 is arranged to bear on the lever 60 so that if a key isinserted in the lock and turned clockwise the levers 60 and 54 will bedepressed as in Fig. 9, thereby releasing the card tray from its normalposition due to the barrel cam.

An indicator arm or needle 61 is carried by the card tray being visiblethrough a window 66 in the casing. The columnar position of the cardtray is indicated by the position of the needle against an index card69.

In the machine illustrated the cam 26 is advanced a step forward eachday (by mechanism not shown or pertaining to my present invention) thusthe week-day upon which the impression is made will determine thevertical placement of the imprint on the card. The columnar placementwill indicate the in" and out" registrations and it will be apparentthat any number of said registrations may be obtained by redesigning thebarrel cam and employing a corresponding number of the lugs IS on discll. Thus the barrel cam could be made longer and the helical trackmodified in pitch.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a time recorder a card tray, a transmission element forming partof means for moving the card tray laterally which element is selflocking'and linkage between said self locking element and the card traywhich linkage is normally rigid but is susceptible to operatorcontrolled movement to permit of yielding thereof.

2. In a time recorder a helical transmission means forming part meansfor shifting a card tray and linkage actuated thereby and connected tothe card tray, said linkage being normally rigid to hold the card trayin set position and lock controlled means for rendering said linkagemeans yieldable.

3. In a time recorder having a card tray mounted for lateral shift,power accumulating means operating by a setting and a release foractuating the card tray. an electric motor driven means for setting andreleasing said power accumulating means, a switch for applying currentto said motor, means for periodically closing the switch which is timecontrolled. and means for reopenin! the switch upon the release strokeor the power accumulating means.

4. In a time recorder having a card tray mounted for lateral shift,power accumulating means operating by a setting and a release foractuating setting and releasing said power accumulating means, a switchfor applying current to said motor, means for periodically closing theswitch which is time controlled, and means for reopening the switch uponthe release stroke of the power accumulating means, said electric motordriven means comprising the motor and a cam on the motor engaging thepower accumulating means, the release of the latter being as it dropsfrom the high point of the cam.

5. In a time recorder having a card tray mounted for lateral shift,power accumulating means operating by a setting and a release foractuating the card tray, an electric motor driven means for setting andreleasing said power accumulating means, a switch for applying currentto said motor, means for periodically closing the switch which is timecontrolled, and means for reopening the switch upon the release strokeof the power accumulating means, the means for periodically closing theswitch comprising a time controlled moving member having settableelements therein,

means engaged by' said settable elements, the

arrangement being such that power is accumulated and released duringsaid engagement, and connections from said means to the switch wherebythe operation thereof is upon the release of said means.

6. In a time recorder having a card tray mounted for lateral shift,power accumulating means operating by a setting and a release foractuating the card tray, an electric motor driven means for setting andreleasing said power accumulating means, a switch for applying currentto said motor, means for periodically closingv the switch which is timecontrolled, and means for reopening the switch upon the release strokeof the power accumulating means, said switch closing and reopening meanscomprising a ratchet, the teeth of which engage movable elements of saidswitch, said means for closing the switch including a pawl engaging saidratchet, and the switch reopening means including a pawl also engagingsaid ratchet.

7. A linkage for connecting a card tray shifting transmission to a cardtray comprising a pivoted lever connected at its free end'to the cardtray, a sliding member on the lever having means for engaging saidtransmission, pin and slot connection between the lever and the memberat two spaced intervals, one of said pin and slot con-- nections beingarranged to be discontinued upon movement of the sliding member in onedirection leaving the sliding member free to pivot on the lever at theother connection, lock controlled the card tray, an electric motordriven means for means for sliding the sliding member in said onedirection, and means for normally maintaining said sliding member in itsother position.

ELMER G. S'I'RECKFUSS.

